University of North Carolina Ashville Athletics
UNC Asheville
Liberty
Bulldogs Advance to Quarterfinals, Defeat Liberty 80-70
03.04.2015 | Men's Basketball
CONWAY, S.C. – Sophomore guard Andrew Rowsey's record-setting 34 points and seven three-pointers propelled No. 6 seed UNC Asheville past No. 11 seed Liberty, 80-70, in Wednesday evening's 2015 VisitMyrtleBeach.com Big South Men's Basketball Championship first round tilt at The HTC Center.
Rowsey, a second team All-Big South selection, set Big South Championship first round records for points and three-pointers made during his fourth 30-point game of the season. Eleven of Rowsey's points came during a 13-2 run which spanned both halves and put Asheville on top for good.
Rowsey also tied (along with teammate David Robertson) the tournament first round mark for most free throws made. Both Rowsey and Robertson finished 9-of-10 from the line on the night for the Bulldogs, as Rowsey eclipsed both the 1,200 point and 200 three-pointer milestones for his career. He now has 1,230 career point and 207 three-pointers. Rowsey moved into second place on Asheville's career three-pointer list on Wednesday, moving past Matt Dickey (199) and J.P. Primm (201).
Asheville evens its record at 15-15 with its third victory over the Flames this season, including their second in five days. Robertson scored 12 of his 14 points after halftime and Sam Hughes chipped in 12 markers for the Bulldogs.
Asheville finished at 49 percent (24-of-49) from the field, 52.9 percent (9-of-17) from three-point range and 76.7 percent (23-of-30) from the foul line.
The Bulldogs advance to a quarterfinal matchup with the tournament host and defending champion, No. 3 seed Coastal Carolina. Tipoff is slated for Friday at 8 p.m. inside The HTC Center.
Liberty's 2014-15 season comes to a close at 8-24 despite a quartet of Flames scoring in double figures. David Andoh paced Liberty in both points (21) and rebounds (10) for his second double-double. He was joined in double digits by Andrew Smith (16 points, nine rebounds), Ryan Kemrite (12 points) and Theo Johnson (11 points).
The Flames, who shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field, owned advantages in rebounds (33-31), points in the paint (32-22) and bench points (41-25). However, Liberty was victimized by 18 turnovers which led to 23 Asheville points.
Neither team led by more than a half-dozen points during a tightly contested opening half which featured eight ties and five lead changes.
Rowsey scored Asheville's final seven points of the half, including a triple from right in front of the Liberty bench which gave the Bulldogs a 30-24 edge at the 2:15 mark.
The Flames came back to even the score at 30-30 on a Kemrite trifecta, 38 seconds before halftime.
However, Rowsey countered with his fourth three-pointer of the opening half, sending the Bulldogs into the intermission with a 33-30 advantage.
Rowsey tallied 17 first-half points to lead all scorers. Andoh and Smith scored 10 apiece for the Flames.
Rowsey added eight more points during a 10-2 Asheville run to open the second half. His NBA-range three-pointer at the 16:10 mark lifted the Bulldogs' lead to 43-32.
Liberty outscored Asheville by a 17-8 count over the next 6:06. Andoh tallied 10 of those points, including a slam dunk that trimmed the blue-clad Flames' deficit to 51-49 with 10:04 remaining.
But Jaleel Roberts slowed Liberty's momentum with a dunk of his own off an inbounds play, just 34 seconds later.
Rowsey's record-breaking seventh three-pointer came during an 8-0 run which essentially sealed the Bulldogs' victory. Robertson closed out the surge with two free throws at the 3:26 mark, making it a 66-54 game.
The Flames got no closer than seven points the rest of the way as Asheville recorded its 30th victory in tournament history.
UNC Asheville Head Coach Nick McDevitt:
“We're very excited to win one and advance to the next round. We beat a quality team out there tonight. Credit Liberty, they played hard and aggressive. We had to play hard to win this game.”
“All in all, I'm happy with our effort and when they made a run to get the game close, we showed a little bit of toughness. I thought we withstood that run pretty well and held on to win.”
“Tournament games just have a different feel to them. Each possession feels different than a game in the regular season. I didn't want [our players] feeling like because we had a 17, 18 point win the regular season, to be disappointed being up four late in the game. I just really wanted them to keep them involved in the game. Anybody that's been to enough tournaments knows that tournament play is just different.”
I think shot selection is the most difficult thing to teach. The exact same shot, situation, is different for everybody on the team. With that said, I don't want to ever have someone that shoots like Andrew second-guessing himself. When you have a player that shoots it like him, he needs to continue to grow and learn. With that 30-foot shot, I've seen him practice hit longer shots than that.”
“That game tonight was a seven-point game with a minute to go. At no point did I feel like the game was in hand. The way Andrew was shooting the ball and the way Liberty hung with us the whole game, I never felt like taking him out.”
Liberty Head Coach Dale Layer:
“[Andrew Rowsey] is really talented. He's almost as talented when you get him off-balance and he can score in so many different ways. I thought we did a good job on him tonight. The stats lie, but his ability score at the free throw line means you can't foul him. He finds whatever cracks there are and probes whatever you're doing. A lot of guys, you take one thing away from them and it jams them up. He just finds the next thing.”
